Long since the inception of the Constitution, it is believed that taking or giving dowry is against law, according to Supreme Court’s series of amendments it is believed that people belonging to the bride’s sides will be slapped with immediate arrest if a simple complaint is registered.

So, in a bid to protect husbands from the disgruntled wives, the apex court has now laid a set of guidelines to take a dig at the misuse of anti-dowry laws and with the added aim of felicitating increase in instances of amicable settlement of matrimonial disputes.

As of now, a six-month trial of this arrangement is going on, the National Legal Services Authority will review it and file a report by March 2018 after which the final judgment will be made. This all started when a question arose whether any directions were called for to prevent the misuse of Section 498A.

The primary objective of this deed is to check the tendency to rope in all family members to settle a matrimonial dispute. “Omnibus allegations against all relatives of the husband cannot be taken at face value, when in normal course it may only be the husband or his parents who may be accused of demanding dowry or causing cruelty,” said the Supreme Court.

“We are conscious of the object for which the provision was brought into the statute. At the same time, violation of human rights cannot be brushed aside. Certain safeguards against uncalled for arrest or insensitive investigation have been addressed by this Court,” it added.

Further interpreting the section 498A, the apex court went saying that the actual need behind imposing it; is to punish the perpetrators, particularly when such cruelty could potentially result in suicide or murder.

On the whole, after finding that the most of such complaints are filed in the heat of the moment over trivial issues, the apex court ruled over for more amendments. Aiming to avoid the improper accusations and harassments, it denied the immediate arrests without proper interrogation.